Isabella Beeton (Author of Mrs Beeton's Book of Household Management) edit data Isabella Mary Beeton (née Mayson), universally known as Mrs Beeton, was the English author of Mrs Beeton's Book of Household Management, and is one of the most famous cookery writers. Popularly known as "Mrs Beeton's Book of Household Management", it was a guide to running a Victorian household, with advice on fashion, childcare, animal husbandry, poisons, the management of servants, science, religion, and industrialism. Of the 1,112 pages, over 900 contained recipes, such that another popular name for the volume is "Mrs Beeton's Cookbook". Most of the recipes were illustrated with coloured engravings, and it was the first book to show recipes in a format that is still used today. It is said that many of the recipes were actually plagiarised Isabella Mary Beeton (née Mayson), universally known as Mrs Beeton, was the English author of Mrs Beeton's Book of Household Management, and is one of the most famous cookery writers.

Popularly known as "Mrs Beeton's Book of Household Management", it was a guide to running a Victorian household, with advice on fashion, childcare, animal husbandry, poisons, the management of servants, science, religion, and industrialism. Of the 1,112 pages, over 900 contained recipes, such that another popular name for the volume is "Mrs Beeton's Cookbook". Most of the recipes were illustrated with coloured engravings, and it was the first book to show recipes in a format that is still used today. It is said that many of the recipes were actually plagiarised from earlier writers (including Eliza Acton), but the Beetons never claimed that the book's contents were original. It was intended as a guide of reliable information for the aspirant middle classes. Mrs Beeton is perhaps described better as its compiler and editor than as its author, many of the passages clearly being not her own words. ...more Cookery - Mrs. Beeton's Household Management First Edition | Bauman Rare Books COOKERY BEETON, Isabella > Aquatint Copperplate process by which the plate is “bitten” by exposure to acid.

By changing the areas of the plate that are exposed and the length of time the plate is submerged in the acid bath, the engraver can obtain fine and varying shades of gray that closely resemble watercolor washes. Although the name contains the word “tint”, this is a black-and-white printing process; aquatint plates can often be hand colored, however. Armorial Used to describe a binding bearing the coat of arms of the original owner, or with bookplates incorporating the owner’s arms. Association Copy copy that belonged to someone connected with the author or the contents of a book. Boards Hard front and rear covers of a bound book which are covered in cloth, leather or paper. “Original boards” refers to cardboard-like front and back boards, from about 1700 to 1840, used as temporary protection for books before their purchasers would have them bound. Of particular value to collectors as evidence of a very early form of the book. Book-Plate Label, generally affixed to the front pastedown, identifying a book’s owner.

Broadside Sheet printed on one side, typically for public display, usually larger than folio size (a folio being a broadside-size sheet printed on both sides and folded once, to make four pages). Calf Binding material made from cowhide—versatile, durable, usually tan or brown in color, of smooth texture with no or little apparent grain. Readily marbled (“tree calf”), mottled, diced, colored, polished, tooled in gilt or blind, even scented (known as “russia”). Reverse calf, with a distinctive suede-like texture, is occasionally used. Chromolithograph Lithograph printed in colors, typically three or more. Collation Process by which the contents of a book are inspected for completeness, checking against internal evidence, the table of contents and/or plate list, and reference works. Also a shorthand bibliographical description of a book’s composition by its leaves and signatures, rather than its pages. A-C, for example, would indicate a quarto volume composed of three signatures or gatherings of eight pages each for a total of 24 pages. Colophon Printed note at the end of a text containing information about the printing of the book.

Doublure Pastedowns made not of paper but of leather, for decorative purposes. Duodecimo (12MO) Smaller than an octavo, typically less than six inches tall; smaller formats, such as 24mo and 32mo, are uncommon. Edition Print-run from a single setting of type without substantial change. Depending on demand, any number of printings can be made from a setting of type For example, a first printing might consist of 1000 copies, followed by a second printing of 2500 copies; in which case the book would have a first edition, first printing of 1000 copies, and a first edition, second printing of 2500 copies. Endpapers Extra leaves—plain, colored or decorated—with which a bookbinder covers the insides of the book’s boards, therefore not part of the actual text block. The part of the leaf pasted to the inside of the front board is the front “pastedown,” while the other part of the leaf that forms the first page of the book is the “front free endpaper”; the same applies to the rear pastedown and rear free endpaper.

Engraving Illustration produced by carving lines into a metal plate. This is an intaglio process, in which ink is poured over the plate, then wiped from the surface, leaving ink only in the recesses made by the engraver’s tools. The image is then transferred by pressing thick dampened paper against the metal plate with great force—requiring engravings to be printed on a separate stock and separate press from any text. Errata List of mistakes and corrections noted after printing, often compiled on a separate sheet or slip and inserted into the text block. Flyleaves Additional blank leaves following or preceding the endpapers. Folio Book composed of sheets that are folded once and printed on both sides, making two leaves and four pages. Typically above 14 inches tall. Oblong folios are produced the same way but bound at the short edge, producing a book typically more than 14 inches deep. Fore-Edge Edge of the book furthest from the spine.

Occasionally the text of a book will be put into a specialized book press and painted, often with a scene from the book or a landscape, so that the painting is invisible when the book is closed but visible when somebody bends the text and fans the pages—known as a fore-edge painting. Foxing Light brown spots that naturally appear on some papers due to oxidation as they age. Frontispiece An illustration facing the title page of a book. Gathering Single sheet of paper that has been printed and folded to form the pages required by the book’s format. A single gathering of a quarto book, then, would be a sheet folded twice, containing four leaves, eight pages of text.. Gatherings are identified by a letter, symbol or number in the lower margin of the first page (the “signature”) to make it easy for the printer to stack them in proper order for sewing. Gilt Edges The three exposed edges of a book have been smoothed and gilded. Half Title Leaf preceding the title page that bears the book’s title, originally used to identify the unbound text block. The book’s binder would often remove and discard the half title at the time of binding. Remaining half-titles are therefore of interest to collectors.

Illuminated Decorated by hand. Typically early printed books and especially manuscripts. Imprint Satement of place, publisher and date of publication on a book’s title page. Incunable From the cradle of printing, i.e., any book printed before 1501. Issue A group of books issued by the publisher as a discrete unit. At times, issue refers to timing, such as the “first issue” being offered to the public at an earlier date than the “second issue.” At other times, it refers to specially planned different batches, such as the “trade issue” (widely available) in opposition to a “signed limited issue” (limited to a small amount of copies differing somehow from the trade issue and not widely available). Japanese Vellum Expensive handmade paper often used in deluxe editions. Lithograph Illustration produced by transferring an image drawn on a carefully prepared stone to paper. The process allowed illustrations to more closely resemble the original drawings, paintings or sketches, as it gave the lithographer a freedom of line impossible to achieve in earlier intaglio and relief processes.

It does not require the same sort of pressure as an engraving to transfer the image, but still has to be printed on separate stock from the text Marginalia Handwritten notes made in the margins by a previous owner. Mispaginated Printer’s error in pagination, typically skipping, transposing or repeating page numbers. Not uncommon in older, larger books, it is not considered a defect, so long as all integral leaves are present. Modern Recently accomplished, when used to describe a book’s binding that is not the original casing. Some books bound recently are bound using techniques, tools and styles of the period of the book’s original issue; when done well this is called a period-style binding, a term that implies “modern” as well. Morocco Binding material made from goatskin—versatile, durable, with a distinctive pebbled texture and visible grain. Readily stretched (“straight-grain”), crushed (flattened smooth), tooled in gilt or blind, inlaid with leathers of different colors. So-called because much of the raw material originally came from the tanneries of North Africa (other types of goatskin bindings denoting regions of origin include levant, turkey, niger).

Offset The unintended transfer of ink from one printed page to an adjacent page. Period-Style binding executed with materials, tools and techniques to approximate the look of a contemporary binding from the period of the book’s publication. The term implies that the binding is modern, or recent, unless otherwise specified. Plate Full-page illustration printed separately from but bound with the text. Point Variation in text, illustration, design or format that allows a bibliographer to distinguish between different editions and different printings of the same edition, or between different states or issues of the same printing. Presentation Copy Book given as a gift by its author, illustrator or publisher. Sometimes refers to a volume given by a notable donor. Provenance History of a particular copy of a book. Raised Bands Horizontal protruding strips found on the spine of a book. Reback To supply a worn binding with a new spine, usually made of the same material as the rest of the binding and decorated to match. When feasible the binder may preserve the original spine and affix it to the new material, described as “rebacked with the original spine laid down.” Recase To reattach a text block to its binding when it has become loose from its covers. Recto The front side of a leaf.

The back side is known as the “verso.” Trade Edition Printing or printings of a book made available for purchase by the general public on publication day (as opposed to a limited edition, often available only by subscription). Uncut When the edges of the text block (most apparent at the fore and lower edges) have not been trimmed to a uniform size, and are therefore characterized by a ragged or deckle edge. A book may be uncut but opened—i.e., with a paper-knife—but all unopened books (see below) are by nature uncut as well. Unopened When the folds of the sheets of paper making up the text block have not been trimmed away or opened with a paper-knife. While this makes it impossible to read all of the pages, it also indicates a probability that the text block has not been altered since leaving the printer. Vellum Binding material made from specially treated calfskin—durable, with a distinctive ivory color and smooth appearance. Can be tooled in gilt or blind. So-called Japan vellum (or Japon) is a type of thick paper that has been polished smooth and given a glossy finish to resemble vellum.

Verso The back or reverse side of a leaf or page. (See “recto.”) Woodcut Illustration or textual decoration made by cutting away from the surface of a block of wood until the reverse of the image is left in relief; this is then inked and pressed to the paper to leave the image. The woodblock, or multiple blocks, can be fit into the page along with the type, allowing text and illustrations to be printed in the same print run and share the same page (not possible with engravings, which require thicker, damp paper and much more force; nor with lithographs, which require a different printing process altogether). Woodcuts preceded moveable type and are the earliest known printing technology. Wood-Engraving Engraving made with the graver or burin on the cross-section of a piece of boxwood; the harder wood and finer tools allow for more delicate, finely detailed images, while the block can still be set in the page alongside text and printed on the same stock as the text. While much older, wood engravings enjoyed an important renaissance in the late eighteenth century through Thomas Bewick and continued in popularity thorugh the nineteenth century.

Wormhole Tiny pinhole-sized trails left by bookworms as they eat through a text block. Much more common in older books printed on handmade papers with a high rag content than in books printed on manufactured papers made from wood pulp with a higher acidic content. Wrappers Paper coverings—plain, marbled or printed—attached by stitches, staples or glue to a text block to identify it and afford it some protection (though much more fragile than a binding in plain, cloth or leather-covered boards). More typical of slim and/or inexpensive volumes such as pamphlets. “Self wrappers” are leaves, blank or printed, that are integral to the text block, conjugate with other leaves and from the same stock. “Original wrappers,” those attached at the time of issue, are scarce and extremely desirable to most collectors. Receive Electronic Catalogues Cookery - Mrs. Beeton's Household Management | Bauman Rare Books Mrs. Beeton's Household Management COOKERY | Isabella BEETON Item#: 81813 We're sorry, this item has been sold “UNIVERSALLY ACKNOWLEDGED TO BE THE BEST COOK BOOK EVER WRITTEN”: MRS.

BEETON’S HOUSEHOLD MANAGEMENT, WITH COLOR PLATES BEETON, Isabella. Mrs. Beeton’s Household Management. London and Melbourne: Ward, Lock, circa 1912. Very thick octavo, original burgundy and tan cloth. “New Edition,” richly illustrated in color and black-and-white. First published in 1861, Beeton’s Household Management was “an immediate bestseller and went into many editions well into the 20th century” (Craig 8). Its popularity “rested on its quality, especially the combination of clear structure and precise detail. Recipes, for example, were arranged alphabetically in sections, with ingredients, prices, weights, and cooking times all precisely stated, on the basis of tests carried out by the author in her own kitchen. The book’s style moved easily between detailed instructions and neat aphorisms… For Isabella Beeton, a people’s ‘way of taking their meals, as well as their way of treating women’ were marks of civilization. Dining well ‘implies both the will and the skill to reduce to order, and surround with idealisms and grace, the more material conditions of human existence’.

That will and skill she showed in large measure” (DNB). “As the compiler of what is universally acknowledged to be the best cookbook ever written, she will continue to be read as avidly into the 21st century as she has been in the 19th and 20th” (Quayle, 247). Pencil owner signature. Only light foxing to text, light wear to original cloth. An extremely good copy. ask an Expert shipping & guarantee If you are interested in an item from one of our catalogues or our website and would like more information before ordering it, please give us a call; one of our salespeople will be happy to speak with you and answer any questions that you might have. For some items, we can also email digital photographs. All of our items are guaranteed as described and are shipped on approval. We accept MasterCard, Visa, American Express, Discover, checks and wire transfer. For first-time buyers, we prefer a credit card and we will only ship to the billing address on the card. We do ask that if you are not satisfied with the item, you contact us by phone as quickly as possible and return the item within ten days.

We ship worldwide and all packages will be sent via UPS or Federal Express unless another carrier is requested. Next-day or second-day air service is available upon request. Shipping and insurance charges are additional. Other books from the same author(s) BEETON, Isabella > Aquatint Copperplate process by which the plate is “bitten” by exposure to acid. By changing the areas of the plate that are exposed and the length of time the plate is submerged in the acid bath, the engraver can obtain fine and varying shades of gray that closely resemble watercolor washes. Although the name contains the word “tint”, this is a black-and-white printing process; aquatint plates can often be hand colored, however. Armorial Used to describe a binding bearing the coat of arms of the original owner, or with bookplates incorporating the owner’s arms. Association Copy copy that belonged to someone connected with the author or the contents of a book. Boards Hard front and rear covers of a bound book which are covered in cloth, leather or paper. “Original boards” refers to cardboard-like front and back boards, from about 1700 to 1840, used as temporary protection for books before their purchasers would have them bound.

Of particular value to collectors as evidence of a very early form of the book. Book-Plate Label, generally affixed to the front pastedown, identifying a book’s owner. Broadside Sheet printed on one side, typically for public display, usually larger than folio size (a folio being a broadside-size sheet printed on both sides and folded once, to make four pages). Calf Binding material made from cowhide—versatile, durable, usually tan or brown in color, of smooth texture with no or little apparent grain. Readily marbled (“tree calf”), mottled, diced, colored, polished, tooled in gilt or blind, even scented (known as “russia”). Reverse calf, with a distinctive suede-like texture, is occasionally used. Chromolithograph Lithograph printed in colors, typically three or more. Collation Process by which the contents of a book are inspected for completeness, checking against internal evidence, the table of contents and/or plate list, and reference works. Also a shorthand bibliographical description of a book’s composition by its leaves and signatures, rather than its pages.

A-C, for example, would indicate a quarto volume composed of three signatures or gatherings of eight pages each for a total of 24 pages. Colophon Printed note at the end of a text containing information about the printing of the book. Doublure Pastedowns made not of paper but of leather, for decorative purposes. Duodecimo (12MO) Smaller than an octavo, typically less than six inches tall; smaller formats, such as 24mo and 32mo, are uncommon. Edition Print-run from a single setting of type without substantial change. Depending on demand, any number of printings can be made from a setting of type For example, a first printing might consist of 1000 copies, followed by a second printing of 2500 copies; in which case the book would have a first edition, first printing of 1000 copies, and a first edition, second printing of 2500 copies. Endpapers Extra leaves—plain, colored or decorated—with which a bookbinder covers the insides of the book’s boards, therefore not part of the actual text block.

The part of the leaf pasted to the inside of the front board is the front “pastedown,” while the other part of the leaf that forms the first page of the book is the “front free endpaper”; the same applies to the rear pastedown and rear free endpaper. Engraving Illustration produced by carving lines into a metal plate. This is an intaglio process, in which ink is poured over the plate, then wiped from the surface, leaving ink only in the recesses made by the engraver’s tools. The image is then transferred by pressing thick dampened paper against the metal plate with great force—requiring engravings to be printed on a separate stock and separate press from any text. Errata List of mistakes and corrections noted after printing, often compiled on a separate sheet or slip and inserted into the text block. Flyleaves Additional blank leaves following or preceding the endpapers. Folio Book composed of sheets that are folded once and printed on both sides, making two leaves and four pages. Typically above 14 inches tall. Oblong folios are produced the same way but bound at the short edge, producing a book typically more than 14 inches deep.

Fore-Edge Edge of the book furthest from the spine. Occasionally the text of a book will be put into a specialized book press and painted, often with a scene from the book or a landscape, so that the painting is invisible when the book is closed but visible when somebody bends the text and fans the pages—known as a fore-edge painting. Foxing Light brown spots that naturally appear on some papers due to oxidation as they age. Frontispiece An illustration facing the title page of a book. Gathering Single sheet of paper that has been printed and folded to form the pages required by the book’s format. A single gathering of a quarto book, then, would be a sheet folded twice, containing four leaves, eight pages of text.. Gatherings are identified by a letter, symbol or number in the lower margin of the first page (the “signature”) to make it easy for the printer to stack them in proper order for sewing. Gilt Edges The three exposed edges of a book have been smoothed and gilded. Half Title Leaf preceding the title page that bears the book’s title, originally used to identify the unbound text block. The book’s binder would often remove and discard the half title at the time of binding.

Remaining half-titles are therefore of interest to collectors. Illuminated Decorated by hand. Typically early printed books and especially manuscripts. Imprint Satement of place, publisher and date of publication on a book’s title page. Incunable From the cradle of printing, i.e., any book printed before 1501. Issue A group of books issued by the publisher as a discrete unit. At times, issue refers to timing, such as the “first issue” being offered to the public at an earlier date than the “second issue.” At other times, it refers to specially planned different batches, such as the “trade issue” (widely available) in opposition to a “signed limited issue” (limited to a small amount of copies differing somehow from the trade issue and not widely available). Japanese Vellum Expensive handmade paper often used in deluxe editions. Lithograph Illustration produced by transferring an image drawn on a carefully prepared stone to paper. The process allowed illustrations to more closely resemble the original drawings, paintings or sketches, as it gave the lithographer a freedom of line impossible to achieve in earlier intaglio and relief processes.

It does not require the same sort of pressure as an engraving to transfer the image, but still has to be printed on separate stock from the text Marginalia Handwritten notes made in the margins by a previous owner. Mispaginated Printer’s error in pagination, typically skipping, transposing or repeating page numbers. Not uncommon in older, larger books, it is not considered a defect, so long as all integral leaves are present. Modern Recently accomplished, when used to describe a book’s binding that is not the original casing. Some books bound recently are bound using techniques, tools and styles of the period of the book’s original issue; when done well this is called a period-style binding, a term that implies “modern” as well. Morocco Binding material made from goatskin—versatile, durable, with a distinctive pebbled texture and visible grain. Readily stretched (“straight-grain”), crushed (flattened smooth), tooled in gilt or blind, inlaid with leathers of different colors. So-called because much of the raw material originally came from the tanneries of North Africa (other types of goatskin bindings denoting regions of origin include levant, turkey, niger).

Offset The unintended transfer of ink from one printed page to an adjacent page. Period-Style binding executed with materials, tools and techniques to approximate the look of a contemporary binding from the period of the book’s publication. The term implies that the binding is modern, or recent, unless otherwise specified. Plate Full-page illustration printed separately from but bound with the text. Point Variation in text, illustration, design or format that allows a bibliographer to distinguish between different editions and different printings of the same edition, or between different states or issues of the same printing. Presentation Copy Book given as a gift by its author, illustrator or publisher. Sometimes refers to a volume given by a notable donor. Provenance History of a particular copy of a book. Raised Bands Horizontal protruding strips found on the spine of a book. Reback To supply a worn binding with a new spine, usually made of the same material as the rest of the binding and decorated to match. When feasible the binder may preserve the original spine and affix it to the new material, described as “rebacked with the original spine laid down.” Recase To reattach a text block to its binding when it has become loose from its covers. Recto The front side of a leaf.

The back side is known as the “verso.” Trade Edition Printing or printings of a book made available for purchase by the general public on publication day (as opposed to a limited edition, often available only by subscription). Uncut When the edges of the text block (most apparent at the fore and lower edges) have not been trimmed to a uniform size, and are therefore characterized by a ragged or deckle edge. A book may be uncut but opened—i.e., with a paper-knife—but all unopened books (see below) are by nature uncut as well. Unopened When the folds of the sheets of paper making up the text block have not been trimmed away or opened with a paper-knife. While this makes it impossible to read all of the pages, it also indicates a probability that the text block has not been altered since leaving the printer. Vellum Binding material made from specially treated calfskin—durable, with a distinctive ivory color and smooth appearance. Can be tooled in gilt or blind. So-called Japan vellum (or Japon) is a type of thick paper that has been polished smooth and given a glossy finish to resemble vellum.

Verso The back or reverse side of a leaf or page. (See “recto.”) Woodcut Illustration or textual decoration made by cutting away from the surface of a block of wood until the reverse of the image is left in relief; this is then inked and pressed to the paper to leave the image. The woodblock, or multiple blocks, can be fit into the page along with the type, allowing text and illustrations to be printed in the same print run and share the same page (not possible with engravings, which require thicker, damp paper and much more force; nor with lithographs, which require a different printing process altogether). Woodcuts preceded moveable type and are the earliest known printing technology. Wood-Engraving Engraving made with the graver or burin on the cross-section of a piece of boxwood; the harder wood and finer tools allow for more delicate, finely detailed images, while the block can still be set in the page alongside text and printed on the same stock as the text. While much older, wood engravings enjoyed an important renaissance in the late eighteenth century through Thomas Bewick and continued in popularity thorugh the nineteenth century.

Wormhole Tiny pinhole-sized trails left by bookworms as they eat through a text block. Much more common in older books printed on handmade papers with a high rag content than in books printed on manufactured papers made from wood pulp with a higher acidic content. Wrappers Paper coverings—plain, marbled or printed—attached by stitches, staples or glue to a text block to identify it and afford it some protection (though much more fragile than a binding in plain, cloth or leather-covered boards). More typical of slim and/or inexpensive volumes such as pamphlets. “Self wrappers” are leaves, blank or printed, that are integral to the text block, conjugate with other leaves and from the same stock. “Original wrappers,” those attached at the time of issue, are scarce and extremely desirable to most collectors. Receive Electronic Catalogues Mrs Beeton - Lady's maid Mrs Beeton - Lady's maid Mrs Beeton: Duties of the Lady's-Maid 1861 Share Intro Mrs Beeton’s Book of Household Management was first published in 1861. It not only contains over 2000 recipes, but is also a complete guide to running a household.

The book catered for the increasingly frenetic lifestyle of an expanding middle class. Many of its readers will have been entering into an unfamiliar way of life, having recently stepped up the social ladder, and the book offers all sorts of essential advice: how to choose friends and acquaintances; how to dress; how to receive morning calls, or to seat guests at the dinner table. However, Mrs Beeton made it plain that the mistress of the house was not expected to dirty her hands. Instead she should delegate responsibility - the majority of Beeton's instructions are designed to be carried out by servants. The book contains meticulously detailed advice on the duties of a wide variety of staff - cooks, dairy maids, nurse maids, valets, lady's-maids, footmen and the like - all of whom would have been expected to operate under the watchful command of their employer. Isabella Beeton (1836-65) was married to the publisher Samuel Beeton, whose most successful venture was the 'Englishwoman's Domestic Magazine'. Isobella was largely responsible for the production of the magazine, taking charge of the cookery pages, reading all the proofs, and devising the layout.

Household Management first appeared in monthly parts in the magazine. She died when she was only 28 having contracted puerperal fever. In this extract, Mrs Beeton describes the various duties of a lady's maid. Shelfmark: c133 c5 Duties of the Lady’s-Maid Duties of the Lady’s-Maid The duties of a lady’s-maid are more numerous, and perhaps more onerous, than those of the valet; for while the latter is aided by the tailor, the hatter, the linen-draper, and the perfumer, the lady’s-maid has to originate many parts of the mistress’s dress herself: she should, indeed be a tolerable expert milliner and dressmaker, a good hairdresser, and possess some chemical knowledge of the cosmetics with which the toilet-table is supplied, in order to use them with safety and effect. ... Every morning, immediately after her mistress has left, and while breakfast is on, she should throw the bed open, by taking off the clothes; open the windows (except in rainy weather), and leave the room to air for half an hour.

After breakfast...if the rooms are carpeted, she should sweep them carefully, having previously strewed the room with moist tea-leaves, dusting every table and chair, taking care to penetrate to every corner, and moving every article of furniture that is portable. This done satisfactorily, and having cleaned the dressing-glass, polished up the furniture and the ornaments, and made the glass jug and basin clean and bright, emptied all slops, , emptied the water-jugs and filled them with fresh water, and arranged the rooms, the dressing-room is ready for the mistress when she thinks proper to appear. The dressing-room thoroughly in order, the same thing is to be done in the bedroom, in which she will probably be assisted by the housemaid to make the bed and empty the slops. In making the bed, she will study her lady’s wishes, whether it is to be hard or soft, sloping or straight, and see that it is done accordingly.

Having swept the bedroom with equal care, dusted the tables and chairs, chimney-ornaments, and put away all articles of dress left from yesterday, and cleaned and put away any articles of jewellery, her next care is to see, before her mistress goes out, what requires replacing in her department, and furnish her with a list of them, that she may use her discretion about ordering them. All this done, she may settle herself down to any work on which she is engaged, this will consist chiefly in mending; which is first to be seen to; everything, except stockings, being mended before washing. Plain work will probably be one of the lady’s-maid’s chief employments. A waiting-maid, who wishes to make herself useful, will study the fashion-books with attention, so as to be able to aid her mistress’s judgment in dressing, according to the prevailing fashion, with such modifications as her style of countenance requires. She will also, if she has her mistress’s interest at heart, employ her spare time in repairing and making up dresses which have served one purpose, to serve another also; or turning many things, unfitted for her mistress to use, for the younger branches of the family.

The lady’s-maid may thus render herself invaluable to her mistress, and increase her own happiness in so doing. The exigencies of fashion and luxury are such, that all ladies except those of the very highest rank, will consider themselves fortunate in having about them a thoughtful person, capable of diverting their finery to a useful purpose. Among other duties, the lady’s-maid should understand the various processes for washing, and cleaning, and repairing laces; edging of collars; removing stains and grease-spots from dresses, and similar processes, for which the following recipes will be found very useful. Find out more about the Mrs Beeton - Lady's maid Here The Short Life and Long Times of Mrs. Beeton by Kathryn Hughes | PenguinRandomHouse.com Add to Cart About The Short Life and Long Times of Mrs. Beeton In Victorian England there was only one fail-safe authority on matters ranging from fashion to puddings to scullery maids: Beeton’s Book of Household Management. In this delightful, superbly researched biography, award-winning historian Kathryn Hughes pulls back the lace curtains to reveal the woman behind the book–Mrs. Beeton, the first domestic diva of the modern age–and explores the life of the book itself.

Isabella Beeton was a twenty-one-year-old newlywed with only six months’ experience running her own home when–coaxed by her husband, a struggling publisher–she began to compile her book of recipes and domestic advice. The aspiring mother hardly suspected that her name would become synonymous with housewifery for generations. Nor would the women who turned to the book for guidance ever have guessed that its author lived in a simple house in the suburbs with a single maid-of-all-work instead of presiding over a well-run estate. Isabella would die at twenty-eight, shortly after the book’s publication, never knowing the extent of her legacy. As her survivors faced bankruptcy, sexual scandal and a bitter family feud that lasted more than a century, Mrs. Beeton’s book became an institution. For an exploding population of the newly affluent, it prescribed not only how to cook and clean but ways to cope with the social flux of the emerging consumer culture: how to plan a party for ten, whip up a hair pomade or calculate how much money was needed to permit the hiring of a footman. In the twentieth century, Mrs.

Beeton would be accused of plagiarism, blamed for the dire state of British cookery and used to market everything from biscuits to meat pies. This elegant, revelatory portrait of a lady journalist, as she lived and as she existed in the minds of her readers, is also a vivid picture of Victorian home life and its attendant anxieties, nostalgia, and aspirations–not so different from those felt in America today. Get the news you want from Penguin Random House Praise “Magnificent.” –The New Yorker “A triumph . . . Hughes knows 19th-century England intimately . . . the result is a narrative that could have come straight from Trollope. Vicars and curates, tradesmen’s families edging up the social ladder, tangled marriage plots–for lovers of Barsetshire, it’s all here.” –Laura Shapiro, The New York Times Book Review “Peppy . . . Smart . . . Tells vivid personal stories . . . The author’s intelligence never deserts her.” –Wendy Smith, Washington Post Book World “Enthralling . . . Having read Ms. Hughes, one wants immediately to read Beeton . . .

[Beeton] speaks to the universal condition of female life.” –Barbara Amiel, Wall Street Journal “Absorbing . . . Excellent . . . Nostalgia for handmade items, worry over adulterated food, a healthy market for cookbooks . . . We have a lot in common with the early Victorian era, at least with regard to broad trends toward domesticity.” –Benjamin Lytal, The New York Sun “Scrupulously researched, definitive . . . Mrs. Beeton emerges as a fascinating blend of Betty Crocker and Emily Post, with a little Martha Stewart or Nigella Lawson thrown in for good measure . . . Hughes’s searching social eye does wonders with the small cache of letters between Isabella and Sam, written during their courtship . . . She constructs a detailed picture of fashions and social customs at the high-water mark of the Victorian age. For readers of Dickens and Trollope, this section of the book is pure gold.” –William Grimes, The New York Times “A terrific book, filled with astute observation and telling detail about the growth of an idea, or fantasy, of domesticity . . .

Later in life, [my mother] would sit around reading a facsimile edition of ‘Beeton’s Book of Household Management’ the way another sort of person might read pornography . . . My mind reels when I think of what she would have thought had she lived to read The Short Life and Long Times of Mrs. Beeton . . . Mrs. Beeton, a syphilitic plagiarist? Golly. But in case you think I have just given away the whole story, I assure you, I haven’t.” –Katherine A. Powers, The Boston Globe “Lively and authoritative.” –Entertainment Weekly, graded A “One of my favourite biographies of the year . . . a lively and fascinating reconstruction of the ‘real’ Isabella Beeton, unpicking her extraordinary posthumous legend with great skill, opening a wide window on to Victorian domestic and publishing history, and wearing its excellent sleuthing with a light grace.” –Hermione Lee, The Guardian “There is seemingly no aspect of Victorian life that Kathryn Hughes cannot assimilate and understand from the inside. This is living history, in which massive research and impeccable scholarship is handled with invigorating panache . . with verve and humor . . .

This great gift of a book . . . makes us savour aspects of 19th-century life in order to sharpen our awareness of how we live now.” –Frances Spalding, The Independent “Splendid . . . A brilliant biography, which tells the absorbing, strange and sad story with great aplomb . . . You know that Kathryn Hughes would write a wonderful novel.” –Philip Hensher, The Spectator “Accomplished and hugely readable . . . Depicts the worlds of the Beetons with astonishing vividness and colour . . . with subtlety and precision . . . Much more than a biography, it is like a version in prose of a magnificent Victorian narrative painting, packed full of the strange, swarming richness of life.” –Lucy Lethbridge, Literary Review “A wonderful book, so masterful and scholarly, so detailed and wise, there will never need to be another. Hughes is an elegant writer and a capable digger; no stone, however small or inaccessible, is left unturned . . . She has done sterling work.” –Rachel Cooke, The Observer “Brilliant . . . Excellent . . .

A fascinating reconstruction.” –Nicola Humble, The Saturday Guardian “It is a testament to Hughes’s wry intelligence that she can make Mrs. Beeton’s sad and sometimes grotesque story so enjoyable to read.” –Bee Wilson, New Statesman “Altogether fascinating . . . Leaves very few corners of the mid-Victorian domestic interior unswept. From one angle it is a kind of history of the early woman’s magazine; from another a re-imagined users’ guide to Crimea-era domestic service. The amateur student of venereology will find much in it to relish and the historian of the Victorian pub will not be disappointed. At its heart, though lie the two equally vivid figures of Isabella Mayson and the man she married.” –D.J. Taylor, The Independent on Sunday “Illuminating . . . Kathryn Hughes deploys considerable gifts.” –Matthew Sturgis, The Sunday Telegraph From the Hardcover edition. About Kathryn Hughes Kathryn Hughes is the author of George Eliot: The Last Victorian, which won the James Tait Black Memorial Prize for Biography, and The Victorian Governess, which remains the standard text on the subject.

Educated at Oxford University, she holds a… More about Kathryn Hughes Product Details

Question: What was cookery expert Mrs Beeton's christian name
Answer: Isabella